Today I would like to share my interview with the author of Getting Rooted in New Zealand,Jamie Baywood. Jamie currently lives in the UK,but She is from Cali! Hello! Did you hear me? Cali! California pretty much consumes my dreams nowadays; and I've also lived in Europe before. (See...much in common!) So I just had to know more about this author and her promising memoir about escaping romance by traveling the globe.

I can get
obsessed with listening to movie soundtracks. Last year when I first moved to
the UK and was living in Scotland I was obsessed with the Drive soundtrack. I listen to Nightcall
and A Real Hero over and over. My
husband also introduced me to Metronomy in Scotland.

Jamie:My style is classic girlie girl.
I only wear dresses, never jeans or trousers. I would love to raid Mad Men’s voluptuous Joan’s closet.

Katrina:What celebrities inspire you?

Jamie:Gosh, I am really bad at keeping
up with current events and celebrities! I tend to have strange celebrity
crushes. I love smart men that make me laugh. I love Louis Theroux and Jason Schwartzman.

Katrina:Did you meet anyone famous in California or New Zealand?

Jamie:One
of the first people I meet was Colin Mathura-Jeffree from New Zealand’s Next
Top Model. I had no idea who he was or that he was on TV when I meet him. He is
friends with my former flatmate. We had a steep staircase that I kept falling
down. Colin taught me to walk like a model so I wouldn’t fall down the stairs.

Katrina:What 10 items would I find in your purse/messenger/day/tote bag?

Jamie:I don’t like to carry too much
with me. I just usually have the basics; phone, keys, lip gloss, credit cards,
and hopefully some cash.

Katrina:What is your favorite “would wear everyday if you could” article of
clothing?

Jamie:When I was in American Samoa I bought
a colourful cotton tunic style shirt. I wear it as a dress with leggings way
too often.

Jamie:I was born in the ‘80s. When I
was a little girl I loved Punky Brewster and tried to emulate her style. There
are some photos of me when I am about five-years-old with a crazy side ponytail
and too many pairs of socks posing like Punky Brewster.

Katrina:After reading the synopsis of Getting Rooted in New Zealand I have so
many questions, but I feel they may just be answered in the book. So
tell me something about yourself that you can say without giving a spoiler to
the memoir.

Jamie:I had the
opportunity to write and perform for Thomas Sainsbury the most prolific
playwright in New Zealand. I performed a monologue about my jobs in the
Basement Theatre in Auckland.The funny
thing about that experience was Tom kept me separated from the other performers
until it was time to perform. I was under the impression that all the
performers were foreigners giving their experiences in New Zealand.All of the other performers were professional
actors telling stories that weren’t their own. At first I was mortified, but
the audience seemed to enjoy my “performance,” laughing their way through my
monologue. After the shows we would go out and mingle with the audience. People
would ask me how long I had been acting. I would tell them, “I wasn’t acting; I
have to go to work tomorrow and sit next to the girl wearing her dead dog’s
collar around her neck.”

Katrina:If you had a chance to do it all over again, would you?

Jamie:Absolutely! It was the best
decision I ever made.

About the
book Getting Rooted in New Zealand:

Craving
change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian,
impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the
country's population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a
hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird
world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably
bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous
meeting with a fellow traveler before Jamie learns what it really means to get
rooted.

More About the
Author:

Jamie
Baywood grew up in Petaluma, California. In 2010, she made the most impulsive
decision of her life by moving to New Zealand. Getting Rooted in New Zealand is
her first book about her experiences living there. Jamie is now married and
living happily ever after in the United Kingdom. She is working on her second
book.

I'm Katrina, founder of Kindred Dreamheart. I'm an aspiring celebrity "red carpet" clothing designer and book lover. I read select genres. However if it's a series I'm sure I'd love it also regardless of the genre. I read when I want to be entertained; watch TV when I'm bored; and when I'm not designing something fabulous, I blog. Tweet Me or Friend me on Goodreads.